March 31 won't be final health insurance deadline

Monday is not really the deadline for signing up for health insurance in Washington state for people who have made a real effort to get insurance but haven't succeeded.

A spokesman for the health exchange said there is no real deadline for anyone who has run into technical problems.

But Michael Marchand is quick to add: the people who run Washington Healthplanfinder can tell who has been making an effort. So people should not expect more time if they've just gone to the website signed on and then given up.

Midnight Monday is the official deadline to apply for health insurance this year under the Affordable Care Act. There is no deadline for Medicaid sign-ups.

Marchand expects at least 11,000 people will get more time to finish their applications.